Do you struggle with Anxiety? A report dated May 10, 2023, by the American Psychiatric Association shows that 70% of U.S. adults say they feel anxious, and this figure is rising each year.
The Bible says, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:5-7.
We also see in Psalm 4:7 In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.
We are also told in 1 Peter 5:7 (AMP) casting all your cares (all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all) on Him, for He cares about you (with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully).
These are only just a few scriptures regarding anxiety, worry and peace listed in the Bible. There are many more. So why do we still struggle with anxiety? Once when I was struggling with this, I asked the Lord this very question. I felt Him speak to me in my spirit, “It must be one of two things. Either you do not know what the Word says, or you do not trust Me enough to believe what I say is true.” Not believing Him is as much as calling Him a liar. By not believing His Word as truth, I was actually calling my Lord a liar, to His face.
This realization hit me hard. If I didn’t believe His Word enough to act on it, I was not in faith, and I knew His Word says it is impossible to please God without faith. I quickly repented, asking Him for forgiveness for not trusting and acting on His Word.
I saw how anxiety was opposite of what the Word says I should be doing. This means it is a tool of the enemy to keep a wedge between my Lord and myself. The enemy does not want me to draw near to God. The devil also does not want me to resist him when he tries to get me bound up by anxiety. The devil wants me to focus on the anxiety and the fear it brings with it. He continues to try to entangle me in it. He wants me to stay bound in the chains of it instead of casting it all on my Lord as my Lord tells me to do. When I become tempted to hold onto the anxiety, I remind myself that God has not given me a spirit of fear; but of power, and love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7.
I will study to know what the Bible says about the weapons that come my way, I will trust that God’s word is true and act on it, and I never want to call Jesus a liar again.
